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Doctor Who: The Sontaran Experiment (Story 77)
 
Manufacturer: BBC Video / Warner Bros.
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Product Description
One of the more suspenseful stories of the Tom Baker-era Doctor Who, 1975's The Sontaran Experiment pits the Time Lord and his companions against a ruthless alien carrying out experiments on the survivors of a decimated Earth. The first Doctor Who serial to be shot entirely on location (in Dartmoor) and solely with video cameras, The Sontaran Experiment picks up where the previous serial, The Ark in Space, left off, with Baker's Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter, who also wrote the serial's novelization) visiting a future Earth abandoned by its inhabitants save for a small band of space colonists who are being hunted by an unseen force and its robot servant. The alien – a Sontaran warrior (the race was previously encountered in the Jon Pertwee serial The Time Warrior) – is capturing the colonists and subjecting them to horrifying medical and psychological experiments, and the Doctor and friends soon find themselves among its new test subjects. A short (only two episodes) but gripping and effective story, The Sontaran Experiment has received its share of positive and negative reviews from the fan community, but remains an entertaining entry from the Baker years. The single-disc DVD of The Sontaran Experiment offers surprisingly fewer extras than other recent Doctor Who releases; commentary is provided by Sladen, producer Philip Hinchcliffe, and co-writer Bob Baker, while a featurette, "Built for War," traces the history of the Sontarans via interviews with Sladen, Baker, sixth Doctor Colin Baker, writer Terrance Dicks, and others. A brief photo gallery and the by-now standard production notes subtitle option round out the extras. -- Paul Gaita

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Customer Reviews
Sontarans look like Russett Mr. Potatoheads!
 
Review Date: January 27, 2008
Reviewer: Patrick W. Crabtree, Lucasville, OH USA
This one is a really great episode, one of my personal favorites. Tom Baker plays Doctor Who and Sarah is his sidekick along with one other male sidekick.

Doctor Who stops off on Earth (far in the Earth's future when it is no longer inhabited) to make repairs to some equipment that he has based there. Sarah and her friend come along for some R&R in the beautuful English countryside but they run into a "hole-trap" right away! Pretty soon some human astronaults show up and they are very suspicious of the TARDIS trio because some of their crew members have been killed.

The facts ultimately show that it is Styre, the Sontaran, along with his devilish mobile robot, who has been torturing and killing off the astronaults. He had lured them to Earth with a fake distress call and then destroyed their space ship after they had landed. Styre is conducting "experiments" on humans to detect all their mental and physical inferiorities, (e.g., by water deprivation, by mashing them, etc.), so that his tribe can invade the galaxy and exploit these weaknesses. His superiors are awaiting his final report prior to the invasion.

But Doctor Who has other plans for the Sontarans!

The Sontaran, Styre, looks like a giant russett potato with arms and legs and dressed in a cool space suit, and is actually made up quite good. His robot is also a timeless work of tinsmithing art. The cinematography in this entry is spectacular and the action is constant.

If I have a singular critique of this one it's that it is one of the shorter Doctor Who episodes, having only two parts. Still, it's very worthwhile television. My highest recommendation.
What a great Show!!
 
Review Date: April 22, 2007
Reviewer: Chris M. Howard,
i'd like to say "DOCTOR WHO" is probally one of my favorite television series of all time. second only to "STAR TREK". even then i couldn't chose between them.
TOM BAKER is also one of my personal favorites as "THE DOCTOR". if you haven't seen any of them. START at once. the series itself is very complex and i won't bother to get into that.
i will just focus on this episode. it's a rather odd one because it's only a two parter. but it packs a whallop in being short. the SONTARAN's are again menacing the earth. after leaving "NOVA BEACON" later to be named. in it's past it was called "NERVA BEACON". but that is another story with the Cybermen "REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN.
the Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive on earth using the Transmat beam and get involved with saving the earth yet again. seems the Doctor can't go anywhere with out trying to save our butts. good thing he is on our side.
Tom Baker shines brightly as ever in his portrayal of him. you like any story that he's in. his personality steals the show! enjoy
CMH
Great story
 
Review Date: October 17, 2007
Reviewer: James W. Milstead, Dunbar, WV
This is the only story from this season that I did not see as a kid. It is a very good short story. It is fast paced compared to most 1970s television. It is typical in the since that the bad guys are basically Germans. The Sontarans have German sounding names. This is true throughout most of Doctor Who. The story links very well in between The Ark in Space and Genesis of the Daleks.
Love Doctor Who - Tom Baker
 
Review Date: May 27, 2009
Reviewer: P. Parkinson, North Carolina
As always - I love this campy show. And Tom Baker is my favorite doctor. I am so glad they are available on DVD now, I have some ratty old videotapes that I have been watching for (I don't want to say how many) years, and they barely play anymore.
Short, but great 4th Doctor adventure!...SONTARAN!
 
Review Date: June 15, 2009
Reviewer: Jorge Dejesus Sanchez, San Juan , Puerto Rico
The Third adventure of the greatest Doctor of all, Tom Baker.
In this short adventure ( only have 2 episodes), you can continue the Sontaran saga who beging with 3rd Doctor's Time Warrior!
Filmed completly in location ( very like Spearhed from Space), The Doctor and the Sontaran goes mano a mano, if you like The Sontarans, this must be in your collection, is good Featurette with the story of the Sontarans, for the price is a great buy!

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